1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to gowns worn by medical patients and more particularly to medical patient gowns of the type typically worn in hospitals, medical clinics and the like.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
For convenience in examining patients in a hospital, medical clinic or the like, the patients normally wear what is commonly referred to as a patient or hospital gown which is comfortable on the patient and allows quick and easy access to the various body parts which may be under examination. One drawback with most patient gowns is that they are designed to cover the front of the patient's body but are left open at a connection location on the patient's back where typically a couple of string ties are provided to connect the free ends of the gown.
The connection of the free ends of the gown along the back is typically very loose leaving a large gap between the free ends so as to expose the body along the back which is very undesirable from the patient's viewpoint.
To overcome the problem of a gaping back on the patient gown, some gowns have been designed so that the free ends of the gown overlap in the back and while this is a desirable improvement over the typical patient gown, it still has several undesirable characteristics. Namely, it still needs to be fastened behind the back or at an awkward location behind one's side, and it does not allow convenient access to the front of the patient's body as the gown completely encloses the front of the patient's body. Other patient gowns merely comprise a completely enclosed draping gown with a neck opening or conventional pajama-type gowns having an upper and a lower component part but in both instances, access to the patient's body is inhibited and accordingly, is not as functional from a utilitarian standpoint.
Another prior art patient gown comprises a single-piece garment having three armholes so that the garment can be wrapped around the body and overlap one shoulder so that one of the patient's arms, can extend through the third armhole and thereby retain the gown in place without the use of ties or buttons. The obvious disadvantage in this particular gown is that it has limited access to the body due to the fact that the gown wraps completely around the patient's body and then includes a continuing overlap.
While there have been several attempts to improve on the typical hospital or patient gown of the type previously described, these attempts have fallen short of a gown that is easy to put on, is comfortable to wear and still allows convenient access to the patient's body by the doctor or other attending assistant. It is to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art patient gowns that the present invention has been developed.